Maars_

Greetings, about a year ago I bought a '97 Del Sol S with a basic d15b7 in it, i got a good deal on it and i love the thing to death, but over the last few months its begun smoking more and more in higher rpms (pretty much anything over 3000, if you take it up past 5-6k its like a b list movie smoke screen across the road). Doing some research I've found that this is likely worn piston rings, with a chance of it being decayed valve seals. But here's the catch, the car only has 83,000 miles on it, it doesn't seem that likely that the rings would be worn after so few miles does it? Most of what I've read seems to say that that doesn't typically happen until the 150k+ range. Doesn't it seem more likely that since its an old car with not many miles that the rings could be stuck or the valve seals decayed from having sat somewhere for a number of years? I guess my question is what is your opinion on the most likely problem, and how doable is a ring replacement in a d15? I have some new valve seals and a spring compressor and such and am going to attempt to replace those the next time i have a couple days off work as that seems like something perhaps within my capabilities.

On a side note, I've also seen people recommending various mechanic in a can type solutions - seafoam for stuck rings and carbon buildup - mystery oil for leaky seals and the like, I've even seen multiple instances of people pouring seafoam into their spark plug wells to free up stuck rings and it doing wonders, while others say that's ridiculous and should never be attempted, what are your thoughts on some of these cheap cans of magic-fix-it-all?

Any thoughts, experiences, advice, info, whatever, is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Zachd91

Depending on how hard the motor was beat/ poorly maintained etc. before you got it. anything is possible. With some time and mechanical know how you should be able to adress any internal engine issues without too much difficulty. Also a plus side of those engines are that they are rather cheap to pick up if you don't want to go that route.

K7-1Ktrevor

wunfstgsr

Try a can of Engine restore formula 4 cyl, its sold at Auto zone ect., this stuff really works! I have a high mile 200k EK hatch with a D series and it consumed oil and smoked a bit and I use a can with every oil change not only did it stop my oil consumption and smoke but it restored the HP and man does this engine feel strong and still runs hard, although I daily drive it to work it runs perfect knock on wood, this stuff also got my Acura Integra that blew a piston ring and had lots of blow by coming out the breather on the valve cover run and stopped the smoke a good amount! I drove the car for a few days lol before I rebuilt the engine and that piston fell apart when it was removed! just try it I personally don't like Sea foam but others said it works others don't, but I swear by this engine restore can!